NRI deposes from Canada through videoconferencing

Aneesha Sareen

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 29

For the first time in the history of the District Courts, a Canada-based NRI, Navneet Singh Chatha, who is the victim and prime witness in a three-year-old sensational kidnapping-for-ransom case, today deposed in a Chandigarh court through videoconferencing while sitting in the Consulate General of India, Toronto, Canada, and got his statements recorded for over 90 minutes. During the process, the complainant, Navneet Singh, also identified four of the total six accused through an identification parade conducted for him in the videoconferencing room in the District Courts itself.

There were nine other persons in addition to the six accused roped in for the identification parade held today and the NRI clearly identified four of them as his kidnappers in 2012 even though he failed to identify the remaining two.

The case has now been adjourned to August 1 when Navneet Singh will be cross-examined by the defence counsel.

Navneet feared coming to India after the kidnapping incident and the recording of his statements was pending in the court due to which the case was getting delayed for over a year. For getting his statements recorded from Canada through videoconferencing, the District Courts approached the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) which got in touch with the Canadian Justice System, which further got in touch with the Consulate General of India, Toronto. Consul (Commercial) RK Parendia was appointed the nodal officer, who facilitated the proceedings.

The statements: In his examination-in-chief, made through videoconferencing with Navneet Singh sitting in the office of the Consulate General of India, Toronto, he deposed in front of Additional Sessions Judge JS Sidhu, sitting in Chandigarh, on camera and narrated the entire trauma he went through when he was kidnapped for a ransom of Rs 1 crore on April 10, 2012. The crime branch, which was then headed by DSP Satbir Singh, had rescued the NRI following an intensive operation in Durala village in Kurukshetra and arrested all six kidnappers.

While recording the statements, NRI Navneet Singh disclosed how he was kidnapped and his brother Gurneet Singh in Canada had received the ransom call. The police laid a trap at the farmhouse of the accused in the village. Amidst an exchange of gunshots by both the police and the kidnappers, the accused were finally overpowered. The police had arrested Pradeep Malik, Nitin, Sanjeev Kumar, alias Soni, Anil Kumar, Sukhdev and Ajit Singh in the case. While Pradeep fired shots at the police, Sanjeev Kumar Soni is the owner of the farmhouse where the victim was confined.

What he said:

“After I was kidnapped and taken to a farmhouse, the accused kept a gun on my temple and threatened to shoot me. They asked me how much money I possessed. They asked me to call my servant and to tell him to be ready with all the cash that was in the house. They were not convinced and asked me to call my brother Gurneet Singh in Canada and asked him to arrange Rs 1 crore in cash. They started beating me when I refused. My brother said he could not send such a huge amount. I took his full name rather than his pet name, which made him suspicious,” said Navneet Singh while his statements were recorded. He was examined by Public Prosecutor Manu Kakkar.

Special permission for extended hours

The videoconferencing went on till 6 pm and the District Courts had sought special permission from the High Court to work for extended hours.